Katrin & Jojo

September 24, 2008

Well, Katrin was right. After the bad impression I got yesterday, waking up today was much nicer. We had very good breakfast with toast, waffles, mini-croissants, bananas, juice, eggs and actual coffee (not the brown-coffee-flavored water you get in the US). Strengthened by this we went to the old port, the Vieux Port, of town. It is really nice and is in no way lagging behind what Quebec has to offer. We strolled around somewhat (the city was just waking up with some stores not yet open) and went back and forth quite a lot (at least we saw everything). Chinatown was on our route to Mont Royal so we had a look at that as well. As indicated we didn’t miss the view from Mont Royal (see the photos) which is a must-see, but also something you should be in shape for (we already had done most of this day’s walking before we went up which was pretty hard). After the really impressing view (and a lot of photo-taking, re-hydrating and watching squirrels) we returned to our hotel. While this article is short, our day was not and we walked for about 8 hours straight (my feet can tell you a story). Seeing how we managed to do as much distance as this we just decided that we would not take the car to the Olympic Park tomorrow (6km) as parking there costs too, but instead walk there (and back). Now, enjoy the photos ;)

September 23, 2008

We left our nice motel in Quebec today to head for Montreal. After a relatively short and especially boring drive there we arrived in the city, where the tourist information center is conveniently (not!) located right in the middle of this big city. This means driving through the whole of this loud and chaotic city only to arrive right in the middle, with one-way-streets in every direction, heaps of pedestrians and parking rates at about $6/hour…
So, we booked a hotel at the tourist information center which is located quite central (so at least we save the public-transportation). We have to pay $10/day just to have our car parked nearby on the hotel’s own parking lot and right across the street is a very fine selection of strip joints… We went down Sainte Catherine (the street our hotel is on), the main shopping street, and it was just awful. Not only are there only clothing-stores which repeat every 4 blocks, but the sidewalks are filthy, the streets are loud and lined with homeless people. To say the least, it was quite disappointing and I can only hope that the old part of town (and for our second full day here the Olympic Park) are better than what we saw today. Oh, I didn’t take any photos, partly because I was afraid my camera would get stolen, but also because there simply is nothing to photograph.

September 22, 2008

We simply could not have picked a better time to visit Quebec. 2008 marks the year of the 400th birthday of the city (founded in 1608), and today the old city (vieux Quebec) had a no-car-day, which meant that the streets were swarming with tourists and vendors which demonstrated bicycles and electric cars/segways. Also the weather was perfect, with a spotless sky and temperatures around 20 degrees. For it’s 400th birthday the city administration had built a few pavillons and other exhibitions at the piers and all the streets were decorated, as were the stores.
At about 9am we arrived at the public-parking area to take the bus-line ($2 all day long, created as part of the 400th-celebrations) into town, only to discover that indeed Quebec is somewhat french, and therefore relaxed, which is why the bus-line starts to operate at 10am. We grabbed a coffee and waited with a lot of very chatty old ladies until we got into town. Initially we followed the same route we quickly did yesterday evening. We climbed up to the Citadelle (yes, it is quite steep) but decided against taking the tour for monetary reasons. We went down again and then basically all around town (a few times, the distances are not that big, but still we walked about 5 hours straight). Quebec certainly has many nice qualities and almost no negative aspects. The streets are small and lined with restaurants, art-galleries and antique/tourist-shops, but there is no place that feels cheap or overly touristic.
The sidewalks are abuzz with friendly people and still everything is clean and in good shape. We observed that, with all the food and the wine and the many buses, people here look healthy, happy and are well-dressed (in harsh contrast to american cities of similar size). Bus drivers stop in the middle of a highway-exit in order to talk to colleagues and no-one complains (although the driving here sometimes feels french ;). The only thing you _could_ hold against them is that a lot of them don’t speak english one could call understandable (and that they don’t slow down one bit after discovering that you’re not a native french speaker).
After the city we stopped at a supermarket (yes, it felt very french too) and were shocked when we saw the prices of dairy products. Now we’re back at our motel and planning the trip for tomorrow, as we’ll be heading for Montreal, where, given good lodging, we may stay 2 full days (meaning 3 nights).

September 21, 2008

Today we rose early and didn’t waste too much time before taking off. We had to leave Acadia National Park, unfortunately, and headed straight for Bangor. At Bangor we took the I-95 towards Waterville where we switched onto Route 201 North. The lady at the information center in Freeport told us to take this part of the trip early, as it is hunting season right now and wildlife might cross the road. Now, a badger isn’t that big a danger to a car like ours, but a moose, that’s quite a different story. Also she warned us that the area around the 201 would be remote. Well, she was right ;) We got through quite fast though, and had nice weather most of the time. I, again, am missing the words to describe the sheer beauty that is the Maine landscape (the indian summer got more visible up north by the way). Katrin was driving today so I had the chance to take some really good pictures. After cities like Moscow and Jackman we crossed over into Canada. The weather, which had been somewhat foggy, moist and cold up until the border immediately changed to warm and sunny. The roads also got better. After driving through some of Quebec (and stopping once at a really crowded Tim Horton’s) I am inclined to make the following observation: While Maine claims to be “The way life should be” (which is right in most aspects in my opinion), Canada is “The way the US should be”. This means cleaner roads, less ads along the roads, better tended houses and front-lawns and way, way less fast-food stores.
In the afternoon we arrived in Quebec (the city), where we first visited the tourist information center which was really nice and where an employee helped us find a cheap motel close to public-bus service into centre-ville. We even went there for about two hours and I can’t wait to spend the whole of tomorrow there.

September 20, 2008

For our second day in Bar Harbor we had planned to visit Acadia National Park, obviously. We rose at 7am (as we did every day so far), bought some groceries and then drove to the park’s Visitor Information Center. We bought a 7-day-pass ($20) and drove on the Park Loop Road down to Otter Point. A ranger had recommended for us t take the Ocean Trail (hiking), which we did. At first it was easy, near the coastline (and the road), without any differences in elevation. After we looked at Sand Beach we crossed the road to continue the trail. Boy, did it get rugged. Immediately the number of people on the trail dropped to about zero and so did the speed with which we progressed. We finally managed to mount the summit of Mount Gorham (elevation 168m) and took some nice photos before heading down the other side. When we arrived back at Otter Point it had taken us about 3 hours (about 6 miles) and a lot of strength. On the Park Loop Road (which is one-way at that point) we headed on and stopped again at Bubble Rock, where we climbed the South Bubble (took us about an hour and was much easier than our first hike that day). Our last stop was on Cadillac Mountain, which is the highest mountain on the US atlantic coast and, thank god, paved all the way to the top (you certainly could tell by the sheer amount of tourist, of the type you didn’t encounter on any of the hiking trails). Since it was to early to take the quickest route back to Bar Harbor we took the 233 East and then Route 3 which goes around the southern end of the peninsula.
Putting the beauty of this national park in words is hard, it’s simply georgeous, unbelievably pretty. It’s hard enough not to take a photo after every bend and not to stop the car at every possible scenic point. The park looks small on the map, and even smaller compared to other parks (like Baxter), but it is really more than big enough for a few days worth of discovering. One thing you should never, ever do (I’m glad we didn’t) is to rent a bike. The distances are still pretty big and the road just goes up and down all the way. Have a look at the photos, or better yet, visit it yourself if you can manage.